EXXONMOBIL EARNINGS $4.7 BLN

EXXONMOBIL - Exxon Mobil Corporation announced estimated first quarter 2018 earnings of $4.7 billion, or $1.09 per share assuming dilution, compared with $4 billion a year earlier. Cash flow from operations and asset sales was $10 billion, including proceeds associated with asset sales of $1.4 billion. During the quarter, the corporation distributed $3.3 billion in dividends to shareholders. Capital and exploration expenditures were $4.9 billion, up 17 percent from the prior year.

Oil-equivalent production was 3.9 million barrels per day, down 6 percent from the first quarter of 2017. Excluding entitlement effects and divestments, oil-equivalent production was down 3 percent from the first quarter of 2017.

"Increased commodity prices, coupled with a focus on operating efficiently and strengthening our portfolio, resulted in higher earnings and the highest quarterly cash flow from operations and asset sales since 2014," said Darren W. Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. "Through new discoveries and acquired acreage, we've positioned our Upstream portfolio well for future growth. We also made good progress on our plans to improve the production mix and grow premium product sales in the Downstream and Chemical businesses."

First Quarter 2018 Business Highlights

Upstream:

Crude and natural gas prices strengthened in the first quarter. ExxonMobil's crude realizations were impacted by an increased discount in Western Canada, notably for heavy crudes, as Canadian supply exceeded pipeline and rail capacity. The logistics constraints in Canada supported the decision to accelerate Syncrude turnaround activities into the first quarter.

Natural gas prices were supported by strong seasonal demand with colder weather across Europe and the U.S. and higher crude-linked LNG prices.

As expected, higher prices reduced entitlement volumes.

Following a severe earthquake in Papua New Guinea on February 26, operations at the PNG LNG project were temporarily shut down while the company responded with humanitarian relief for impacted communities and worked to fully restore operations. The project safely resumed LNG production ahead of schedule in mid-April. The impact of the earthquake reduced earnings by $80 million and production by 25,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day.

The Hebron field in Canada, which started up last year, has ramped up to produce 14,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day in the first quarter with well performance exceeding expectations.

Development of the company's U.S. unconventional acreage is progressing with 27 operated rigs in the Permian and four operated rigs in the Bakken. Permian and Bakken unconventional production has experienced 18 percent growth year-over-year.

Downstream:

Global refining margins remained generally strong, especially in North America. Petroleum product demand was seasonally lower.

Overall manufacturing reliability improved from one-time fourth quarter events. A significant focus during the quarter was on returning the refinery in Joliet, Ill., back to full capacity in March, capturing attractive margins on weaker Canadian crude prices.

Chemical:

ExxonMobil continued to make significant progress in growing the business. The integration of Jurong Aromatics Corporation into the existing Singapore business is progressing as planned, contributing 340,000 metric tons of sales during the quarter.

The North America Growth project is also progressing well with the new polyethylene lines in Mont Belvieu, Texas, increasing sales volumes in the quarter.

As expected, incremental activity associated with startup and commissioning of these new facilities increased expenses during the quarter.

Within the base business, large planned turnarounds in the Middle East and the Gulf Coast were successfully completed.

Strengthening the Portfolio

ExxonMobil announced its seventh oil discovery offshore Guyana with the completion of the Pacora-1 exploration well. The well encountered approximately 65 feet (20 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.

During the quarter, the company increased its holdings in Brazil's pre-salt basins after winning eight additional exploration blocks, six of them to be operated by ExxonMobil, during the latest bid round. The company added more than 640,000 net acres to its existing deepwater portfolio offshore Brazil, and is now one of the largest acreage holders among international oil companies in the country.

ExxonMobil announced that its estimate of the size of the natural gas resource at the P'nyang field in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has increased to 4.36 trillion cubic feet of gas, an 84 percent increase from the previous assessment completed in 2012. This increase, based on an independent recertification study, supports a potential three-train expansion concept of the PNG LNG plant.

ExxonMobil sold its 50 percent ownership interest in the Scarborough gas field, offshore Western Australia, to Woodside Petroleum Ltd. In the Downstream, the company closed several divestments, including distribution and marketing assets in South America, and retail sites in Europe.

During the quarter, ExxonMobil added to its exploration portfolio offshore West Africa by signing an agreement with the government of Ghana to acquire exploration and production rights for the Deepwater Cape Three Points block. ExxonMobil also signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Galp Energia, SGPS, S.A. for a 40 percent farm-in to a deepwater license offshore Namibia. Both agreements are subject to government approvals.

Investing for Growth

The company began commissioning its new ethane cracker in Baytown, Texas. The cracker, expected to start up mid-year 2018, will produce 1.5 million metric tons per year of ethylene feedstock for the new polyethylene lines at the company's plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas.

The company also continued its entry into Mexico's fuels market with the opening of new Mobil-branded service stations operated by Grupo Orsan and Grupo Combured. The new stations will be supplied with gasoline and diesel produced by ExxonMobil's refineries in Texas.

Advancing Innovative Technologies and Products

During the quarter, ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics, Inc. announced a new phase in their joint algae biofuel research program that could lead to the technical ability to produce 10,000 barrels of algae biofuel per day by 2025.

1 Effective December 31, 2017, the corporation revised its accounting policy election related to the reporting of sales-based taxes, which had no impact on earnings. For more information, please refer to Note 2 in the Financial Section of ExxonMobil’s 2017 Form 10-K.

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Earlier:

2018, March, 30, 11:05:00 EXXON PARTNERSHIP IN BRAZIL REUTERS - Exxon along with Petrobras and Qatar Petroleum Intl shelled out 2.8 billion reais ($844 million) for a block in Brazil’s offshore Campos basin as the American oil major seeks to aggressively replace dwindling reserves.

2018, March, 21, 12:30:00 OIL INVESTMENT THREAT PLATTS - ExxonMobil remains more bullish on the future for oil, predicting that demand for oil will likely continue to grow by 19% to 117 million b/d to 2040.

2018, March, 9, 13:30:00 EXXON STRATEGY - 2025: TWICE EXXONMOBIL - Aggressive Growth Plans to More than Double Earnings - Earnings and cash flow from operations projected to approximately double by 2025 - Strongest investment opportunities in two decades to drive results, improve returns - Profitable production growth with low-cost-of-supply tight oil, liquefied natural gas and deepwater

2018, March, 4, 11:20:00 EXXON LEAVES RUSSIA ROSNEFT - The decisions of ExxonMobil to abandon certain projects that fall under the legislative limitations once again imposed by the US government despite their successful development fully comply with the position of the American regulator that changed the way we collaborate on these projects. Русский | English

2018, February, 9, 10:30:00 EXXON'S RESERVES 21.2 BLN EXXONMOBIL said it added 2.7 billion oil-equivalent barrels of proved oil and gas reserves in 2017, replacing 183 percent of production. ExxonMobil's proved reserves totaled 21.2 billion oil-equivalent barrels at year-end 2017. Liquids represented 57 percent of the reserves, up from 53 percent in 2016. ExxonMobil’s reserves life at current production rates is 14 years.

2018, February, 5, 07:45:00 EXXON ENERGY OUTLOOK - 2040 EXXONMOBIL - Despite efficiency gains, global energy demand will likely increase nearly 25 percent. Nearly all growth will be in non-OECD countries (e.g. China, India), where demand will likely increase about 40 percent, or about the same amount of energy used in the Americas today

2018, February, 5, 07:15:00 EXXON NET INCOME $19.7 BLN EXXONMOBIL - ExxonMobil Earns $19.7 Billion in 2017; $8.4 Billion in Fourth Quarter 2017